For Early Birds and Late Risers Alike

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Clockwise from top right: Jam, which opened eight months ago in Massapequa Park, features a menu with locally sourced ingredients and offers options like Belgian-style pearl sugar waffles and Berkshire pork belly and baked beans.CreditCreditPhil Marino for The New York Times

By Susan M. Novick

June 13, 2014

After years of catering to night owls with pub offerings like the Good Life in Massapequa Park and the Phoenix in Seaford, Peter Mangouranes, 38, and Paul Oliva, 35, decided to introduce themselves to customers who like to socialize before the sun sets with an all-day breakfast spot called Jam. The cheerful, eight-month-old country cafe, just down the block from the Good Life, has been serving breakfast standards with a twist since October.

For some, this means the party never has to stop. “If you were to come in to Jam at 2 in the afternoon, you’d find a younger crowd that was probably up late the night before,” Mr. Mangouranes said. “For them, it really feels like morning, and breakfast is a comfort thing.” All-day breakfasts have been making a comeback on Long Island with several new cafes like Jam, Cook’s Scratch Kitchen and Bakery in Northport, and Morning Rose Cafe in Bellmore, upgrading traditional diner offerings with locally sourced ingredients and made-from-scratch recipes. Although some of the décor may be country-casual familiar, the new spots offer artisanal breakfasts with plenty of surprises.

Jam, a rustic corner cafe with additional sidewalk seating, features a hyper-local menu using purveyors drawn from the community. Cajun spice breakfast sausage is ground by the butcher next door. The house blend coffee is roasted and ground by Massapequa Perk, a coffeehouse down the road. And when a neighborhood bakery, Sugar Rush, went out of business last year, Mr. Mangouranes and Mr. Oliva brought the bakers in-house. All breads, including croissants, brioche and flaky buttermilk biscuits, are now baked on the premises.

In addition to salads and sandwiches, dishes include a sampler of house-made jams like blueberry ginger, tomato basil and pineapple jalapeño accompanying an assortment of miniature biscuits and croissants; crispy Berkshire pork belly and barbecue baked beans; and a surf and turf Benedict, topped with lobster and filet mignon. Belgian-style pearl sugar waffles are made with little sugar cubes in the dough that caramelize as the waffle browns.

Inventive sweet and savory options can also be found at Cook’s Scratch Kitchen and Bakery. The counter-service cafe with nine small tables features a blackboard menu of rotating specials and an appealing array of croissants, brownies and scones. But for Josh Cook, 33, who owns the year-old cafe with his brother Dave, 36, all-day breakfasts can be summed up with one classic dish: pancakes. “Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and I love pancakes for dinner,” he said. “It’s probably our most popular item.”

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Morning Rose Cafe in Bellmore offers some savory dishes with a Latin twist, like hot chilaquiles, top left, along with sweeter alternatives like peanut butter and bacon pancakes. CreditPhil Marino for The New York Times

Stacey McDevitt, 48, helms the kitchen and makes small-batch pancakes with buttermilk and a dash of sour cream, which keeps them light and mildly tangy, a nice complement to a maple syrup-butter emulsion and seasonal berries.

On the savory side, local organic eggs are the centerpiece of several breakfast sandwiches including the Ham (soft scrambled eggs with country ham, Gruyère, arugula and Dijonnaise spread on a house-made English muffin). Heartier options include the Brunchwich (fried chicken on a waffle with melted Cheddar, bacon and chipotle aioli) and the Dueling Reubens, two versions of the classic sandwich: the Traditionalist (corned beef with house-made sauerkraut and melted Swiss) and the Hipster (smoked pork belly, Gruyère, local brewery stout mustard and fennel kraut).

“You can get a bacon, egg and cheese anywhere,” said Ms. McDevitt, a chef who has cooked in restaurants in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Napa Valley. “We try to do something a little more unique using quality ingredients and cooking as much as possible from scratch,” she said.

At the seven-month-old Morning Rose Cafe, the elegant bed-and-breakfast-style dining room with butter yellow walls and a wrought iron chandelier belies an adventurous menu. Roberto Baez, 31, the executive chef who is of Cuban descent and a former food truck owner, ventured into the all-day breakfast business after stints at Wild Honey in Oyster Bay and Wild Honey on Main in Port Washington. “People love breakfast, and here you have the chance to find something different, something to broaden their horizons and their palates,” said Mr. Baez, who is incorporating his cultural heritage into his cooking.

For those with a sweet tooth, the griddle at Morning Rose Cafe turns out crepes; peanut butter and bacon pancakes with fresh bananas, honey and maple syrup; a seasonal peach cobbler brioche French toast with a crumbled biscuit topping; and chocolate chip pancakes with sweet coffee syrup and vanilla whipped cream.

“Our breakfasts are really like a full meal,” said the owner, Rose Tzanetos, 50, a former financier. “I wanted to create a place where people would come and say, ‘I could never make that at home.”